Game Development Essentials: Tools you need to get into Game Development!

So you’re thinking of making your own game and don’t know where to start right? You know what the game will be about and you know game development is the thing for you, but among the plethora of tools you can’t choose a specific one, right? Well, don’t worry about it anymore. We’re here to help you with that.

You’ll need to do a lot of video game programming but those skills you can pick up easily. There are hundreds of indie games developed by people who before making their own title had never seen or understood a line of code. So it’s doable.

But you’re here for the tools right. Sadly there isn’t an automated “video game maker” but there are Video Game Engines, which provide you all the tools you need to build your own game. You’ll also need to capture and mix your own sound. And if you’re going the 2D or 3D route as visuals on your video game design, you’ll need 3D modeling software or an image editor.

But let’s get down to the list of tools you need to get into game development, shall we? There are a few engines and some of the tools for the other things you’ll need.

Unity3D

You can download this engine for free and use its variety of features and take advantage of its comprehensive tutorials to learn, design and develop your own game. The tools are easy to use and the engine is flexible enough to allow both 2D and 3D games, though in some cases you’ll need to develop your own tools to suit your needs. The good thing is there are plenty of resources online to help you on that task. This engine is quickly gaining popularity and there are many current gen games being developed using it. If you’re considering making your own game, then you best take a look at Unity.

Visionaire Studio

Visionaire is an engine aimed at adventure games, with a large number of modern Point & Click titles developed using it, such as the Deponia series from Daedalic entertainment. You can get it with a free license. If you’re developing an adventure game, maybe Visionaire is a better fit than Unity. Unity is a bit more general and works for every game and because of it, there aren’t that many specific tutorials towards this genre. Visionaire on the other hand is all about adventure so there are millions of resources to find.

Adventure Game Studio

The original adventure game engine. It’s a simple 2D engine that has seen plenty of use in the past few years, especially by Wadjet Eye Games. They use it exclusively. It has a simple interface and it’s pretty easy to learn and even if you don’t like it for game development on the long haul, it’ll at least help ease you into video game programming and design.

RPG Maker

Like the previous two engines, this one is genre-specific, this time RPGs. The critically acclaimed tearjerker To The Moon was developed on RPG Maker. The visual style of the engine will remind you of the old school SNES era games in all their 16-bit glory. Take it for a spin and learn. And again, much like the previous engine, if you don’t like it in the end, you can still use it to learn the basics and help you on your way to developing your title.

Blender

Blender is a strange beast. It’s primarily a 3D modelling tool comprehensive enough that it’s widely used in the gaming industry, and it’s especially good considering it’s free. But beyond that, Blender is also a video game engine. This combination allows you to seamlessly create objects and add them to your game and even edit them, without needing to jump from one tool to another. Like Unity, it’s a general engine, meant for all your needs though it’s not as robust as the previous ones.

Audacity

You’ll need to record your music and sound effects, right? Well audacity is the answer for you. It’s completely free and used for anything from recording podcasts to editing audio streams. It’s a strong tool with international recognition, and have I mentioned it’s completely free? Well, if not then I’ll say it again. It’s free! So it’s perfect for you to use while you take the plunge into game development. Give it a shot, record your voice, tweak it, change the pitch and tempo and then add it to a funny character in your game.

GIMP

Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop are the professional tools for image manipulation and vector editing but they come with a significant price tag, be it as a subscription or buying the software. So to make life easier for you as you foray into making your game, there’s GIMP, an open source image manipulator. Whatever you can do in Photoshop there’s a good chance you can do it on this one as well. Of course, it might lack some options and tools Adobe’s software has, but it’s a small price to pay for having a powerful image tool for no price at all.

From my personal experience, I can tell you that Unity3D is an outstanding engine and one that works wonders, even for those with no technical background. You can learn the different scripting languages for video game programming quite easily with its support for Javascript, C# and Boo, so there are three different doors open to you, best of all, you can mix and match. If you develop a bit using C# but later find Boo to be more your style, those scripts can coexist in your game. As for the rest of the tools, a game developer friend of mine swears by GIMP and sings its praises so it has to be good, same with Audacity and Blender.

Is there any tool you think we missed? Tell us all about it in he comments and don’t forget to come back for more, right here on Rocky Bytes!

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